William Denholm Kennedy (1813-1865) was a Scottish

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, genre and

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

painter.

Life

William Denholm Kennedy, born at

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

on 16 June 1813, was educated in early life at Edinburgh. When seventeen years of age he came to London, and in 1833 entered the school of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. Here he began a lifelong friendship with William Etty, , who sensibly influenced his style as an artist. In 1833 he sent his first pictures to the Royal Academy, ''A Musical Party'' and ''The Toilet'', and continued to exhibit there almost every year until his death. In 1835 he won the Academy gold medal for an historical painting, ''Apollo and Idas'', and in 1840, being awarded the travelling allowance, went to Italy, where he spent two years in study at Rome. He returned with many sketches and studies of Italian scenery, and an Italian influence was subsequently visible in his work, especially in such pictures as ''The Bandit Mother'', ''The Italian Goatherd'', ''The Land of Poetry and Song'', and others. Kennedy, however, failed to fulfil his early promise, and his work deteriorated. He died suddenly at his house in Soho Square on 2 June 1865. Kennedy was a cultivated man, fond of music, and a good judge of etchings and engravings. His subjects for painting embraced almost everything except portraiture. He occasionally exhibited at the other leading exhibitions besides the Academy. He frequently assisted Thomas Willement with designs for

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

, among others those for the windows in St. Stephen's, Walbrook, London.Cust 1892, p. 437.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * Dixon, Lucy (2004)
"Kennedy, William Denholm (1813–1865), historical genre and landscape painter"
In ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford University Press. * Oliver, Valerie Cassel, ed. (2011)
"Kennedy, William Deuholm"
In '' Benezit Dictionary of Artists''. Oxford University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, William Denholm 1813 births 1865 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters